Lone tusker attacks three persons, villagers cautioned

People in villages bordering forests were asked to not sleep outside their houses or venture out at night and to not store materials like rice, cattle feed, horse gram and bran in farm sheds

Alone male elephant that entered human habitations near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district attacked three persons, including an elderly woman and a minor girl in the early hours of Wednesday.

The incident took place at Karadimadai village, which falls under Madukkarai forest range of the Coimbatore Forest Division.

The tusker first entered a farm near Black Mariamman Temple and attacked Nagammal (70), a farm worker, who was sleeping outside the owner’s house. The incident happened around 12.30 a.m. on Wednesday when Nagammal woke up after hearing noise.

The woman had a close encounter with the male elephant that pushed her. She fell on to the ground and suffered minor injuries.

The elephant then moved to the shed where farm workers were sleeping. The tusker damaged the tin sheets of the shed to pull out horse gram that was stored inside. Dhanalakshmi (40) and Sathya (14) suffered minor injuries.

Forest Department staff rushed to the spot and drove out the tusker. The injured persons were shifted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for treatment.

As the tusker continued to enter villages on Wednesday night and in the early hours of Thursday, the Forest Department has cautioned villagers about its presence.

Following instructions from District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj, teams led by Madukkarai forest range officer R. Arun Kumar visited villages bordering forests Karadimadai, Mathipalayam, Kavundanpathi, Theethipalayam, Molapalayam and Mookakkadupathi on Thursday.

They appealed to people to not sleep outside their houses or venture out at night.

The villagers were also asked to not store materials like rice, cattle feed, horse gram and bran in farm sheds.

It is learnt that over 30 elephants are roaming along the fringes of the Madukkarai forest range, often straying into bordering villages at night for food and water.

Three special teams have been deployed to drive out wild elephants from villages.

Forest Department staff creating awareness among residents on the movement of wild elephants in villages bordering forests in Madukkarai range of Coimbatore Forest Division on Thursday.